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[ST] Presidents Day Ride Report
- Subject: [ST] Presidents Day Ride Report
- From: "George Cope" <gcope@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2005 21:50:33 -0800
This weekend was filled with a few 2 to 4 hour getaways. Whenever the rain
would stop for a few hours, I took off in a direction that would get me
quickly to my favorite roads. I ran the quiet California Delta river roads
Sunday morning, because the Foothills were getting hammered by rain and
snow. Stayed dry until the last 3 miles! I got up to Auburn and the
American River Canyon in the afternoon for quick blast but found the roads
sandy and wet from all that weather earlier in the day.
The best ride was saved for today. I rode over to my buddy's house about 20
minutes away. The sky was a mix of sun and dark ominous clouds. After
checking the direction of the coming storm, we decided to take a 45 mile run
north to the Sutter Buttes, the world's shortest mountain range. It's just
beautiful this time of year, with all the green hills and sharp mountain
peaks. Our destination was a road that goes east to west through the middle
of the Buttes.
We headed west to intersect with one of the many levee roads that keep the
surrounding farm land from flooding. Levees are fun to ride because you're
up high on the road looking down on the river and fields. But these roads
are notorious for punishing riders and drivers who make the mistake of
looking around too much. All too often I find accidents along this
stretch...but not this time.
Just before we turned north, I spotted what looked like a tornado off to the
south. These clouds were mean looking and seemed to be coming right at us.
So we turned and wicked it up to 75-80 mph. Soon we entered sun and our
backs began to warm. Feeling more relaxed, I slowed down a bit to take in a
bit of the scenery, checking the mirror for that storm moving our way.
Yikes! Nothing but black back there. Back up to illegal speeds.
We entered the middle Buttes road through Sutter, a small rice growing
township in the center of the Sacramento Valley. The Buttes just jut up out
of the rice fields, quite bizarre really. We snaked through the center at
legal limits, to enjoy the short time we would spend there. The ST seemed
to know every inch of the road, yet it had been a year since our last visit.
Looping back to Sutter, my buddy gassed up his Vulcan 800. Crummy bike,
only a 90 mile tank! Made me appreciate my ST's range. We watched
lightening strike off to the south and that meant we had to get...and find
shelter. I remembered a place called the Silver Dollar Saloon in
Marysville. The Norcal Triumph group meets there sometimes at the end of
rides. 10 miles later, we stopped and pulled up a bar stool. Bartender
says to us: "What you doin' riding around in tornadoes?" Sure enough, the
TV was blaring warnings of several touchdowns on rooftops. So we killed the
next 2 hours catching up on each others lives. What a great day and what a
great bike to be riding....
George Cope
Roseville, CA
'99 Sprint ST Midnight
23,000 miles as of today
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End of st-digest V2004 #821
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